FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
163 
FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
By the arrival of the Steamer Hibernia, we are in 
receipt of our foreign journals to the 25th of March. 
Markets.— Ashes no change. Cotton, a decline 
from \d. to %d. per lb. Beef and Pork, a slight ad¬ 
vance. Lard, heavy sales at a trifling decline. Wheat, 
an advance of Is. to 2s. per quarter. Flour, a corres¬ 
ponding advance. Indian Meal, a little lower. 
Cheese, in good demand. JVaval Stores, firm. Rice, 
Tobacco, and Wool, dull. 
Money continues abundant at a low interest. 
The Weather had been favorable^hus far, and the 
spring crops were looking, well. 
. American Ice in England. —The packet ship, 
Washington Irving, arrived at Liverpool, from Bos¬ 
ton, with 537 tons of American- ice, being the first 
cargo of the season. 
American Hops. —A vessel from Boston, arrived in 
Liverpool lately, bringing fifty bales of hops of United 
States growth. This is the largest importation of this 
particular article of merchandise, w hich has yet taken 
place, into this country from America. 
Poisonous Pork. —A captain of a vessel, from Con¬ 
stantinople to Wexford, and several of his crew, died 
from eating pork preserved in a leaden cistern. 
Importation of Gutta Percha. —The importations 
of gutta percha continue to take place in large quan¬ 
tities. A vessel just arrived from Singapore has brought 
1,386 packages and 5,084 blocks of this article. 
Planting Trees on Railway Embankments. —It 
has been proposed to plant railway embankments with 
larch trees, which would supply the sleepers required 
from time to time, and would also return a profit from 
the thinnings, fyc., which might be sold for hop poles 
or for other purposes'. 
Glass Water Taps. —Brass cocks always become 
leaky sooner or later, according to the corrosive qual¬ 
ity of the liquid they transmit. Could not glass be 
substituted and adapted by the intervention of wood, 
gutta percha, cement, or some other material ? 
Failure of Liebig’s Manure, Guano , Ammonia, 
Sfc. —At a late meeting of the Royal Agricultural So¬ 
ciety of England, an interesting discussion took place 
on the effects of Liebig’s “ Patent Manure,” on the 
wheat crop ; the time of using guano, and the compar¬ 
ative value of ammoniacal and mineral manures. 
From the evidence adduced, it would seem that Lie¬ 
big’s manure, when applied to the wheat crop,, proved 
a failure, under circumstances where nitrogenous or 
ammoniacal matter was accidentally absent; that there 
was a decided advantage, in using guano on heavy soils, 
in the autumn, at the time of preparation for sowing 
(when the wheat is not sown earlier than November); 
and the strong corroboration afforded by the views of 
Mr. Lawes, in the last number of the Journal of the 
Royal Agricultural Society, “ that nitrogenous ma- 
manures are of the first importance as far as the wheat 
crop is concerned ; and that if these are deficient, min¬ 
eral manures cannot, by any means, supply their 
place.” 
Tea Culture in India. —In an account of the cul¬ 
tivation and manufacture of tea in China, recently 
published in London, Mr. Ball, the author, after an 
official residence in that country, states that he has 
lately seen two samples of tea, one black and the other 
green, made at Kamaon, in the upper provinces of 
India. They were both deficient in strength and fla¬ 
vor, but still excellent teas. The Hyson tea, espe¬ 
cially, would find a good and ready sale in India and 
England. And yet it is certain that these teas are all 
prepared from the southern species of thea, which is 
admitted to be inferior in quality to that of the more 
northern Chinese provinces. Such being the impor¬ 
tant result of the Himalayan experiments in tea cul¬ 
tivation, it will excite no surprise in our readers to 
learn that, upon the recommendation of Lord Hardinge, 
the Court of Directors have authorised the outlay of 
£10,000 a year, in extending and improving their plan¬ 
tations. 
Thick and Thin Sowing. —In a Prize Essay on Thin 
and Thick Sowing, lately written by Mr. Mathew M. 
Milburn, we extract the following, which has been 
deduced from well-tried experiments :— 
“ 1. That thin sowing, and-especially dibbling, is a 
very unsafe process, as regards quantity per acre of 
produce. 2. That despite hoeing, where it can be 
practised, it encourages weeds. 3. That it grows 
coarser produce, and of less value to the miller. 
4. That it does not ripen so early. 5. That on a sandy 
soil, very dry, and not productive, it was unsuccess¬ 
ful in the writer’s own experience. 6. That on grav¬ 
elly clay, with a higher elevation, it was unsuccessful 
with Mr. Watson’s experiment. 7. That on very pro¬ 
ductive land, in a rich state, it was also unsuccessful. 
Mode of Disintegrating Bones without the Aid, of 
Sulphuric Acid. —Mr. Miles, of the Royal Agricultu¬ 
ral Society, has discovered a process for preparing 
bones for manure, without the use of acids, as describ¬ 
ed by Mr. Pusey in the last part of the Society’s Jour¬ 
nal; that instead of sand, ashes, or earth, it was a great 
improvement to use sawdust as the material for cov¬ 
ering up the heaps; double the amount of heat being 
evolved, and the disintegration being effected much 
more rapidly and effectually. He piled up the bones 
into a heap, which he moistened well with water, and 
then covered over to the depth of 2 or 3 inches with 
sawdust, a process by which not only the bones them¬ 
selves were rapidly converted into manure, but the 
sawdust itself also. By this process, however, the de¬ 
composition of much ammonia would take place, and 
escape in a volatile state, as it is developed, and 
be lost. 
Mode of Mixing Bone Dust with Sulphuric Acid .— 
Lay 80 bushels of bone dust in a conical heap ; pour 
on water till it begins to run off at the base ; leave it 
for a couple of days ; then spread it abroad somewhat, 
leaving a raised rim (which should be trampled firm), 
and a basin-shaped cavity ; pour on more water till it 
will no longer remain in the heap ; and then slowly 
pour about 1,000 lbs. of sulphuric acid over the heap. 
Turf ashes (about 300 bushels), may, with advantage, 
have been previously laid around the edge of the heap. 
When the heat has somewhat subsided, mix the bone 
dust together again, into a conical heap ; cover it with 
the ashes ; and leave it for a few weeks. The whole 
may then be mixed with the dry ashes, and will be 
ready for drilling. It will suffice for from 10 to 20 
acres.— agricultural Gazette . 
Salt not good for Barn-door Fowls. —Gallinace¬ 
ous birds, reared by the sea side, or on the banks of a 
salt-water river, avoid the saline stream, and search for 
food and drink as far inland as they can range. I know 
not how common salt could be administered to them. 
It is more than doubtful whether the hens would pick 
it from the ground in its chrystalline form, and it 
would be difficult to distribute it in equal doses by 
means of bread, &c., soaked in salt water. The 
chances are, that some of the hens would be poisoned. 
Pigeons, I think, are the only domesticated birds to 
whose health salt is beneficial, and they prefer it in 
combination with animalized matter; the more offen¬ 
sive it is to our senses, the more agreeable it appears 
be to theirs. Hens, too, are great pickers of bones. I 
have seen one devouring the flesh, and cleaning the 
skeleton of her dead husband, doubtless on the native 
Australian principle of respect and affection for the 
deceased. Salt, in a liquid state, acts as an emetic 
with fowls, as with dogs.— Ibid. 
